Bar Cookie

The custard-filled crust can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Wait until just before serving to cut the dessert into bars; if crumbs and filling stick to the knife, wipe the blade clean between slices. Then decorate each bar with whipped cream. If you don’t have a pastry bag, use a resealable plastic bag with a corner cut off.

These spice-laden cookies originated in colonial New England; the candied ginger is our own addition. As the name implies, the bars are best after being hidden away for a day or two, so the flavors have a chance to deepen.

Homemade brownies are a good reminder that easy baking doesn’t always involve a packaged mix or an electric mixer. These brownies require only a saucepan for melting the butter and chocolate. Once that’s taken care of, stir in the rest of the ingredients and the batter is ready. That’s it. The texture of these falls in the middle between the dense fudgy style and taller, cakier brownies. Min always takes her mother’s advice and sprinkles the nuts on top so they’ll toast in the oven. A big pan of brownies can do anything. Pass a platter after a casual barbecue blow-out or dress them up with any or all three of the cheater smoked dessert sauces (pages 197 to 199) and ice cream.

Salted nuts balance the sweetness of caramel in these candy-like cookies. These bars are quite rich, so feel free to cut them in half.

Classic lemon bars get a couple of twists: wheat germ adds texture to the shortbread crust, and lime juice and zest flavor the filling.

Some people prefer their brownies cakey. We developed this recipe to satisfy our craving for a bar that was just the opposite: dense, fudgy, and full of deep chocolate flavor.

Like brownies, these cookies are dense and fudgy beneath their crackly exteriors. Use your favorite nuts in place of the walnuts, or omit them altogether. The dough can be shaped into balls and refrigerated for up to two days or frozen for up to three weeks; freeze on a baking sheet until firm, then transfer to a resealable plastic bag.

Each of these chewy brownie cupcakes has a secret center: a chocolate-covered peppermint patty. To ensure they have a dense, fudgy texture, be careful not to overbake (start checking at thirty minutes).

This recipe is used to make the brownie hearts on page 213; some of the batter is baked in muffin tins, the rest in an 8-inch pan for cutting into heart-shaped toppers.

To heighten the flavor of apples in these crumbly fruit bars, we steeped dried apple slices in cider; dried cherries lend hints of color and tartness. And the bars are a cinch to make: Some of the dough is first pressed into the pan and covered with softened fruit; the remaining dough is then sprinkled over the top before baking.

It’s no wonder kids adore these bar cookies. A gooey topping spills over a base filled with butterscotch chips, miniature marshmallows, chocolate chunks, and—as if that weren’t enough—melted caramels.

These bars are more rustic than traditional dried fruit bars, since they are covered with a crumbly oat topping before baking. You can substitute chopped dried figs or dates for the raisins.

Layers of texture—crumbly shortbread and a chewy toffee-like topping—balance these indulgent nut bars. Diced candied ginger adds pleasantly surprising spice.

With sweet apricot jam atop a thin, buttery dough and a piped lattice topping, this bar cookie is as lovely to look at as it is to eat.

These single-serving goodies are kitchen wizardry: Blondie batter is tucked into cupcake liners, topped with a combination of coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts, and dried cherries, and baked until golden.

This chunky bar cookie recipe presents a perfect opportunity for improvisation, as you can use whatever flavors of jam and granola you have on hand.